


It Moves

by adobe_beforeffects



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: AU, Gen, One Shot, for now may add more chapters in the future, some body horror but nothing extreme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 14:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17561864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adobe_beforeffects/pseuds/adobe_beforeffects
Summary: Allison finds an unexpected ally when she least expects it.(AU where Lacie is the Bendy animatronic.)





	It Moves

Allison stabs another Searcher, watching as its form dissipates back into the puddles. Another one spawns behind her, and she narrowly moves out of the way of its grasp. It’s nearly pitch black in the corridor, and seeing the inky forms in the darkness was nearly impossible.

_There’s too many of them,_ she realizes. She cuts down the two nearest to her, continuing backing up towards the sea of ink behind her. Tom was right, she shouldn’t have come out here unsupervised, she shouldn’t have-

She hears a strange mechanical noise and looks up to find the Ink Demon only a few feet away, terror overtaking her as she wonders how she didn’t notice the inky tendrils that seep through the walls around him.

Bendy reaches down, picking one of the Searchers up and slamming it against the wall without enough force to splatter it back into the puddles. It jerks erratically, sparks filling the air, and suddenly Allison realizes that this _thing_ wasn’t the Ink Demon after all, but some type of machine.

They make eye contact for only a moment before the animatronic drives a hand through the nearest Searcher, killing it instantly. Allison quickly goes back to weeding down the ones surrounding her. When she finishes, she looks back up to see the animatronic has already finished its task.

It takes a step forward.

Allison holds her sword close, looking it over for any weak spots, wondering if she can take down something that just killed so many Searchers with so little effort.

The animatronic stops and spasms, sparks flying out of the place where its left arm should be. It kneels down to the ground, ink pouring out from the various gaps in the metal, as if it was bleeding. It puts a finger into the ink, then reaches forward and scribbles a message onto the floor. Allison squints, trying to read it upside-down.

_HELP_

She looks cautiously from the message to the robot, then back again. The thing was certainly dangerous - but it had also just saved her life, and it wasn’t in much of a position to help her.

_It makes sense to help it,_ she reasons, slowly moving to the animatronic’s side. It watches her silently, the only noise coming from the ink dripping from its body.

“Can you stand?” she asks, and the animatronic extends its only arm, grabbing her shoulder and using it to pull itself upward.

_Tom is going to love this,_ she thinks sarcastically as they begin the long walk back to the hideout.

* * *

Tom does not, in fact, love it.

“Tom, please.” Allison stands between him and the robot, holding her hands out to keep them both at a distance. Tom gives her a look.

“It helped save me earlier!”, she argues. Tom ignores her, narrowing his eyes and pulling back his jowls to reveal rows of sharp teeth. The animatronic watches him as it leans against the far wall, expression unreadable. It leans over to write something.

_ARM?_

Tom snarls, tightening his grip on the wrench, and Allison puts her arm out in front of him. “He’s using it,” is all she can think to say. The mechanical demon seems slightly irritated by the statement, but goes back to resting.

“Tom, listen.” She moves closer to him, dropping her voice to a whisper. “That thing just took down about 20 Searchers single-handedly. You don’t want to start a fight with it. And if you help repair it, then it might help us like it did earlier.” If a plea for compassion won’t work with him, then maybe a logical plea will.

Thomas glances between her and the robot, deciding. After a few moments he nods, then points to the animatronic and smacks the pipe against his metal palm.

“Yes, I know. My sword is right here.” She puts a hand on the hilt, looking at Tom’s mechanical arm. “And _you_ never told me that thing was alive when you started stealing parts from it.”

Thomas shakes his head, and Allison looks over to the animatronic again, which was still dripping ink. _It wasn’t alive?_

He walks back towards the workbench, pointing at the mechanical Bendy first, then at the edge of the bench. The robot obediently sits down, and Tom takes out a screwdriver, unscrewing the large panel on the back of the thing’s main compartment. He works in silence for a few minutes.

“What should we call you?” Allison finally asks. It looks at her, then writes on the wall in large, clear letters. 

_LACIE_

“Lacie… did you use to work here?” Maybe it was just because she couldn’t remember her own name, but she had only been asking for a nickname, not expecting her to have her own. The robot nods, and nods again as Allison asks if she still remembers the studio back when it was open.

“You don’t… remember who I am, do you?” It’s a long shot, but Allison can still feel her heart rate increase as she asks. “I don’t really remember who I am, but I think I used to work in the music department somewhere, and I remember being in recording booths, and….” She trails off, already forgetting the rest.

Lacie shakes her head, and Allison can’t help but feel the sting of disappointment.

_WORKED IN BENDY LAND_

Tom is giving the inner mechanics of the automaton a strange look, and as Allison moves to his side she can see why. The insides of the thing aren’t purely mechanical as she had expected, but rather are mixed with thick black ink, which looks as if it’s formed into flesh in some spots. She can see some things moving and beating in there.

“Maybe you should let me do that”, she says, holding out her hand. Tom passes the wrench to her, pointing to a bolt, and Allison carefully tightens it, thinking. The animatronic hadn’t been alive when Tom took its arm, but it was now. She claimed to still remember who she was, and there was living ink inside of the inner workings on the robot…

“You weren’t always like this, were you? You… fused with this, or something, and are moving it from the inside out.” Her hand accidentally brushes against flesh, and the animatronic jerks slightly.

_GOT CAUGHT BY THE DEMON. DYING. WAS TRYING TO SAVE MYSELF_

“I’m sorry,” is all Allison can say. The only other person she knows that’s survived an encounter with the demon was the other Alice, and she had the scars to prove it.

The animatronic shrugs.

_NOT THE FIRST TIME I’VE DIED_ , she writes.


End file.
